Dune: Prophecy Episode 2 “Two Wolves” presents a deadly challenge for the Sisterhood’s youngest acolyte, Lila (Chloe Lea). After the deadly events of the HBO show’s premiere, Reverend Mother Valya Harkonnen (Emily Watson) is desperate for advice from her dead mentor, Mother Raquella (Cathy Tyson). She comes up with the idea that her sister Tula’s (Olivia Williams) favorite student, Lila, might be able to reach Raquella if she undergoes “the Agony.” The dangerous trial asks Sisters to not only metabolize poison on a molecular level but to face their ancestors.
Because Lila is (not so) secretly a descendent of Raquella, Valya believes this is her one shot at reaching her teacher. Tula, on the other hand, is reluctant to coerce Lila into the Agony because it’s an experience that Sisters not only train for years to undergo, but because Tula also considers Lila as a daughter.
**Spoilers for Dune: Prophecy Episode 2 “Two Wolves,” now streaming on Max**
In the end, Lila is convinced to risk her life for the Sisterhood. She’s not only eager to give back to the organization that’s raised her since infancy, but she’s also hopeful that she might meet her mysterious dead mother at long last.
Needless to say, some in the Sisterhood — namely the spirited Sister Jen (Faoileann Cunningham) — disagree with her decision, believing she’s been coerced by the women she’s been trained to trust.
“She’s an orphan and that can be a place of vulnerability, but it can also be a kind of superpower,” Dune: Prophecy star Olivia Williams told Decider during a roundtable interview at New York Comic-Con. “And I think the way that Chloe kind of went for it, you know, she was asked to do those nightmare things: ‘Could you just lie on this white bed wearing not very many clothes in a cold room and can you pretend that you’re, like, dying from the inside?‘”
“But those are my funnest days!” Chloe Lea interjected.
Chloe Lea might have had fun filming the Agony, but Lila’s experience takes a sharp, terrifying turn. Dune: Prophecy Episode 2 ends with Lila’s spiteful grandmother, Dorotea (Camilla Beeput), hijacking the Agony to send a message of revenge to Valya and her loyalists. Lila appears to die.
But what exactly is going on with Lila’s Agony at the end of Dune: Prophecy Episode 2 “Two Wolves”? Is Lila dead? Here’s what you need to know…
Dune: Prophecy Episode 2 Ending Explained: What is the Agony?
First thing’s first: what is the Agony in Dune: Prophecy?
The Agony is a trial that the Sisters endure in order to ascend to the rank of Reverend Mother. Fans of Denis Villeneuve’s Dune films might recognize this as the same trial that both Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson) and Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) undergo in Dune Part 2. Essentially, it tests a Sister’s control over her own body. Lethal poison is administered — in Lila’s case through an eye drop — and the Sister must metabolize this on a molecular level to save her own life.
While the Sister’s body is physically breaking down poison, she is able to mentally meet all of her female ancestors. Dune: Prophecy visualizes this by showing us Lila beset by shadowy figures in a dark, cold cave. According to Chloe Lea, the cave portion of Lila’s Agony was the “fun day” on set.
“It was just kind of a day of me running around and screaming and I kind of lost myself in that,” Lea said. “I tried not to look too deep into it, probably as a way to protect myself as a person, because it’s a very scary thing that Lila was going through.”
“It’s one of the scenes that actors dream of. You always dream of being able to just shout in a room and scream and run around. And I got to do that in a really cold cave. It was very liberating. So I think that was my favorite one.”
“I tried not to look too deep into it, probably as a way to protect myself as a person, because it’s a very scary thing that Lila was going through.”
Chloe Lea
On the flip side, Lea found the process of laying on the table in front of all of Lila’s Sisters “more difficult,” in huge part because of how close she was with co-stars like Olivia Williams, Faoileann Cunningham, and Aoife Hinds, who plays the religious Sister Emeline.
“That was emotional for me because I was seeing these people who had genuine care and fear for a character who I think is reminiscent of myself in quite a lot of ways,” Lea said. “So I think that was more difficult emotionally.”
It was also physically uncomfortable thanks to how cold both the table and the set were.
“I became a complete mother,” Olivia Williams said. “This poor girl. She’s like, ‘I’m away from my parents. Finally, I’m 18. I can do what I want!’”
“And I was like, ‘Can we have a blanket for Chloe?’ ‘Are you okay, darling? Have you brushed your teeth?’” If only Tula had been as attentive to Lila!
Does Lila Die In Dune: Prophecy Episode 2 “Two Wolves”?
Is Lila’s Agony a success? Yes, but no.
As Valya hoped, Lila is able to find Mother Raquella. The spirit of Lila’s ancestor speaks through her to Tula in very cagey rhymes: “The key to the reckoning is one born twice. Once in blood, once in spice.”
Tula presses Lila and Raquella for more details, and Lila replies, “A revenant full of scars. A weapon born of war on a path too short.”
However, soon someone else has taken over Lila’s journey into the consciousnesses of the women who cam before her. At first, Lila thinks she has found her mother.
“Is that what they told you? To get you to come?” Dorotea’s sinister voice asks. “I’m sorry, granddaughter. She is not here. But I’ve been waiting for you.”
Dorotea then shows Lila the moment that young Valya Harkonnen (Jessica Barden) used the Voice to compel her to kill herself. Lila is then possessed by Dorotea, who has some choice words for Valya’s little sister.
“Harkonnen, you stole my future. Now I’m taking your hope.” Lila then collapses on the table, seemingly dying in the process.
Now we’ll just have to wait to see how Raquella’s riddle can be applied to the fight the Sisterhood is waging against Desmond Hart (Travis Fimmel) and his oh so mysterious powers.
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